Smart eco-cities for a green economy: a comparative study of Europe and China

Completed

Not Energy Related
Other Cross-Cutting Technologies or Research(Environmental, social and economic impacts)

Basic and strategic applied research

SOCIAL SCIENCES (Town and Country Planning)

Sociological economical and environmental impact of energy (Environmental dimensions)
Sociological economical and environmental impact of energy (Policy and regulation)

Dr F Caprotti
Geography
King's College London

Standard

ESRC

15 September 2016

31 December 2018

27 months

£282,094

London

International

Dr F Caprotti, Geography, King's College London

Dr I Bailey, School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Plymouth
Professor F Berkhout, Geography, King's College London
Dr A Flynn, Cardiff School of Planning and Geography, Cardiff University
Professor S Joss, Faculty of Social Sciences & Humanitie, University of Westminster
Dr L Yu, Cardiff School of Planning and Geography, Cardiff University

The project has the following research objectives:1. Drawing on existing smart city and eco-city datasets in Europe and China, establish a database of eco-city and sustainable city initiatives in Europe and China since 2000. A key contribution will be to bring together data from research on smart cities and eco-cities into one dataset, developed and refined throughout the project;2. Write a longitudinal socio-technical analysis of transitional eco-city and sustainable city initiatives in Europe and China since 2000. This will include a study of failed and stalled projects and examples of current successful projects;3. Through a review of literature on socio-technical transitions, identify criteria for the enabling of mechanisms through which niche experiments have effects on a broader scale, nationally and internationally. This will be carried out through comparative analysis of case studies in the literature, resulting in the production of a qualitative 'transitions model' which will contribute to the development of transitions theory informed by cases from both China and Europe, sensitive to the specific contexts of both these locations;4. Analyse selected case studies (of projects in various stages of development) in Europe and China to: a.) identify opportunities and obstacles to their success as transitional niches which can foster socio-technical change towards the green economy; b.) identify mechanisms for national and international learning and policy and innovation transfer. This will be done using the transitional pathway model developed in Objective 3;5. Achieve impact by influencing urban and economic policy in Europe and China through: a.) disseminating knowledge and policy recommendations to policy and other beneficiaries in Europe and China; b.) supporting capacity building and shared practice learning among network actors at both niche-level and through international knowledge exchange. This will include policy workshops and reports, as well as a toolkit for evaluating policies and pathways.

Europe and China both face the challenges of climate change and associated environmental degradation, and of finding ways in which to promote economic transition away from carbon-intensive economic and consumption patterns, and towards a green economy. The city is where these challenges are centred, and where solutions have to be found: cities are both producers of environmental externalities, and the locations where the negative effects of climate change will be felt most acutely. A promising approach focuses on treating new and existing cities as 'experimental areas' where transitions to a green economy can be trialled. Eco-cities and smart cities have been proposed as potential solutions to the need for a green economy: they are seen as 'socio-technical experiments' which are potential drivers for local, national and international environmental socio-economic change and transition.Both China and several European countries are actively engaged in planning and building experimental cities focused on the green economy. Many of these projects combine elements of eco-city planning (focusing on the visible 'hardware' of environmental sustainability: planning, architecture, renewable energy and smart grid technologies, etc.), with 'smart city' planning (focusing is on 'software': information systems, social capital, knowledge transfer, etc.). We propose analysis of what we call the 'smart eco-city', defined as an experimental city which functions as a potential niche where both environmental and economic reforms can be tested and introduced in areas which are both spatially proximate (the surrounding region) and in an international context (through networks of knowledge, technology and policy transfer and learning).The aim of this project is to provide the first systematic comparative analysis of green economy-focused eco-city projects in China and Europe. This will inform the identification of opportunities and pathways for shaping national and collaborative international urban and economic policy responses, engaging the state, the business sector and communities in delivering 'smart eco-city' projects that can promote the growth of the green economy.The research addresses key issues: a.) how experimental cities have fared in terms of promoting successful transitions to a green economy in Europe and China since 2000; b.) how to evaluate success in smart eco-city initiatives; c.) what are the main obstacles to successful projects d.) what generalizable lessons can be drawn from successful smart eco-cities, in socio-economic and policy terms; e.) how knowledge can be effectively shared across the context of European and Chinese urban-economic policymaking for smart eco-cities.In order to address these crucial issues our team will carry out international, interdisciplinary multi-method research which will include a total of eight in-depth smart eco-city case studies in China, the UK, Germany, theNetherlands, and France. This will involve documentary research as well as interviews with European and Chinese policymakers, businesspeople, financiers, local communities and other stakeholders. The project will also involve research aimed at building the first qualitative-quantitative database of smart eco-city projects: this will form the backbone of our policy toolkit and will be a state-of-the-art contribution to current knowledge on smart- and eco-city planning and policy.Our expected outcomes are: 1.) the first systematic comparative study of smart eco-city projects in Europe and China; 2.) the identification of criteria for the success of experimental city projects in stimulating the emergence and growth of the green economy; 3.) a true interdisciplinary partnership between China and Europe in the generation of new knowledge and data; 4.) the generation of new theory in the field of transition theory; and 5.) policy toolkits of use for beneficiaries involved in contemporary experimental smart eco-city projects.

03/01/18